eToro expands in Australia buying Spaceship investing app for AUD $80M
Social trading focused online broker eToro has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Australian investing app Spaceship.
The company said that the acquisition will strengthen eToro’s footprint in a key market for the business, while also broadening its product offering, bringing superannuation into its portfolio as the company expands its long-term savings proposition globally.
eToro has been making a strong push in the Australia online trading market over the past couple of years. Late last year eToro inked a deal to become back-of-jersey sponsor for all Australia A-League teams, bringing more visibility to its brand.
The parties didn’t disclose exact financial terms of the transaction, but did say that the deal could be worth “up to $80 million AUD” (i.e. USD $55 million) – which sounds like eToro made an upfront payment in the tens of millions of dollars, with more performance based payments possible depending on milestones being hit for the business, that could bring the value of the deal up to a maximum of about USD $55 million.
The acquisition of ASIC-licensed Spaceship Capital Limited will in the future see eToro offer its users easy access to Spaceship’s high-performing superannuation offering, with Spaceship’s GrowthX super seeing 11% annualised performance from its launch in 2017 to August 31 2024. Spaceship customers will eventually gain access to eToro’s investment multi-asset platform, which offers equities, funds, ETFs, commodities and crypto, as well as tools and educational resources.
Since launching in 2017, Spaceship has acquired more than 200,000 clients and surpassed $1.5 billion AUD in funds under management. The company’s core offering includes a choice of superannuation funds, which fall under Spaceship Super, and a selection of professionally managed investment portfolios, under Spaceship Voyager.
Yoni Assia, CEO and Co-founder of eToro said:
“Spaceship and eToro share the goal of making investing accessible for everyone. Like us, they look to the future and we are excited to welcome their team and their clients into the eToro family. With almost two decades of experience building, innovating and serving clients around the world, I believe that together eToro and Spaceship can take our offering for Australian users to the next level.
“We are expanding our long-term savings and investing proposition for our users globally and this acquisition is a key step on this journey. Our mission is to give people the tools and knowledge they need to grow their wealth. To do this we must continue to build out our offering, so that we can support people throughout their investing lives. We hope that this deal will be the first of many in the long-term savings and investing space as we continue to build out our localised product offering in our key markets.”
Andrew Moore, CEO of Spaceship said:
“Joining forces with eToro is a pivotal moment for Spaceship, accelerating our momentum in Australia and unlocking new opportunities for growth. We’re deeply aligned with eToro’s goal of making investing accessible for everyone, and this partnership will enable us to reach new heights as we expand our product offering to customers, while continuing to provide top-tier value. Moreover, it offers our customers a promising opportunity to be part of a forward-looking company that aligns with our future ambitions.”
Robert Francis, MD of eToro Australia said:
“This is a significant milestone for eToro in Australia and underscores our commitment to growing our presence here. We want to give Australians everything they need to meet their investing goals. By combining Spaceship’s superannuation proposition with eToro’s multi-asset investment offering, we can better support our users throughout their investment journeys. I look forward to working with the Spaceship team.”
Spaceship clients will continue to be served by the Spaceship brand. In the future, Spaceship customers will gain easy access to eToro’s products, investment tools and educational resources, whilst eToro clients will be able to sign up to Spaceship through the eToro app and view their Spaceship funds on their eToro account. This integration will take place gradually.
Founded in 2007, eToro is a trading and investing platform with over 38 million registered users from 75 countries. The company is authorised and supervised by regulatory authorities in jurisdictions around the world including ASIC.